Laetiporus conifericola
Harvard Paper in Botany, 6(1): 47. 2001.
Common Name: sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods
For description see Burdsall & Banik, Siegel & Schwarz, & 'California Mushrooms'.
Forming overlapping clusters on dead conifer wood, especially red fir, redwood, and pines; common, fruiting from late summer through fall, widely distributed.
Edible with caution. Prized by many, this species is also known to occasionally cause gastrointestinal upsets. This appears to be caused by eating old and/or insufficiently cooked specimens. If you decide to try it, eat only the young, fresh, growing margins, in small quantities, and cook it thoroughly.
Laetiporus conifericola can be distinguished by its bright orange to orangish yellow, shelving fruitbodies with a sulphur-yellow pore surface, and as the epithet implies, occurs only on conifers. Laetiporus conifericola is one of two species of sulphur shelf or chicken of the woods mushrooms that occur in California. The nearly indistinguishable Laetiporus gilbertsoniigrows on a variety of hardwoods, principally eucalyptus and oak. Specimens of both species that overwinter turn white and become chalky and crumbly.
Burdsall Jr., H.H. & Banik, M.T. (2001). The Genus Laetiporus in North America. Harvard Papers in Botany 6: 43-55. (PDF) (Protologue)
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Gilbertson, R.L. (1974). Fungi That Decay Ponderosa Pine. University of Arizona Press: Tuscon, AZ. 197 p.
Gilbertson, R.L. & Ryvarden, L. (1987). North American Polypores, vol. 2. Fungiflora: Oslo, Norway. 452 p. (PDF)
Ginns, J. (2017). Polypores of British Columbia (Fungi: Basidiomycota). British Columbia: Victoria, BC. 260 p. (PDF)
Overholts, L.O. (1953). The Polyporaceae of the United States, Alaska, and Canada. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MN. 466 p. (PDF)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Smith, A.H. (1949). Mushrooms in their Natural Habitats. Sawyer's Inc: Portland, OR. 626 p. (PDF)
— growing on red fir, Sierra Nevada 
— growing on red fir, Sierra Nevada 
— growing on red fir, Sierra Nevada 
— growing on redwood stump
— growing on redwood stump
— growing on red fir, Sierra Nevada 
— growing on red fir, Sierra Nevada 
